Three Statues (A Short History of the Lower Hudson Valley)

1996 Cortlandt Station (Hudson Line) Metro-North Railroad

Outside the Cortlandt Station, Robert Taplin's “Three Statues (A Short History of the Lower Hudson Valley)” might be taken for apparitions from the area's storied past. The bronze sculptures are of a Native American rendered in earth tones; is a prosperous Dutch landowner of the seventeenth or eighteenth century in gray, and is a laborer, perhaps from the nineteenth century in dull reddish hues. Taplin says, "Each figure presents a moment in the history of this place." Collectively, they symbolize the sweeping changes the surrounding area has experienced over the past three centuries. The artist designed Three Statues, each seven feet tall, to be cast in bronze and then patinated to give the effect of varied surfaces and colors. They stand on a knoll, atop a platform, gazing at a representation of the Hudson River in front of them.